Many food delivery applications like Doordash and Postmates are running successfully from a very long time and generating higher profits since then. It is estimated that food delivery businesses will earn huge profits and will show an increase of almost 79%. Millions of users are active on a monthly basis which is the only reason for its success. Entrepreneurs are investing in food delivery business these days seeing Postmates and other companies making huge profits.
Initially, every business faces some kind of difficulties like making strategies to reach more people or how to create a food delivery app and make your business digital. But once a customer base is made, you can expand your business to other areas as well. It is a good idea to start a new food delivery business as it is beneficial for both the service providers and customers. Let’s first see the advantages of food delivery business:
Convenient And Easy Orders: Earlier, people used to make calls to place an order, but when on-demand apps came, it becomes easier for people to order food online without even communicating with the service provider. It is very easy nowadays, for the people who are working and doesn’t have time to call and order food.
Proper Management Of Orders: With the help of Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system, a restaurant can maintain a proper record of all the orders and their respective earnings. This further helps in making appropriate strategies and analyse the reports on a monthly basis.
Easy Marketing: As we all know that internet is free nowadays, people can apply proper marketing strategies and advertise their business through social media platforms. Facebook and Instagram can be used by business organisations to promote their brand. This helps in reaching more people in a shorter period.
The digital presence of a business is beneficial to reach more customers because when your business can be accessed with a single app, customers will find it convenient and easy to use. Continue reading to know how to create a food ordering app. Generally, there are 3 different panels which are made by the app development company:
#1 Customer App
#2 Restaurant App
#3 Admin Panel
Now, let us have a look at the features that should be included in the panels listed above. Every panel has its own features to make it more attractive and user-friendly.
For Customer App:
- Easy Login And Sign-Up
- Email And Social Media Login
- Search Nearby Restaurants
- Proper Details And Customizations
- Order And Dine-In
- Add To Cart
- In-App Messaging And Calling
- Real-Time Tracking
- Multiple Payment Options
- Review And Ratings
Restaurant App:
- Easy Sign-In And Login
- Accept And Reject Requests
- Update Inventory
- Order Status
- Manage Payments
- Track Earnings
- Manage Reviews And Ratings
Admin Panel:
- Admin Dashboard
- Remove Or Block Restaurants
- Manage Reviews And Ratings
- Content Management
- Reports And Analytics
- Help And Support
- Order And Delivery Notification
These are some of the features you can add to your application if you are sure to start a food delivery business. You can also add some advanced features to make its interface more attractive and user-friendly. You must be wondering how much will it cost to add these features in an application. The overall cost of building an application depends on several factors:
- Building an application from scratch or it just needs enhancement
- Where the company is located
- Basic or advanced features
- Time taken to build the application
- of platforms an application will work upon
Generally, the cost lies between $2k – $25k depending upon these factors. The cost will increase if you want advanced features to be added in the application and it will remain affordable if you need only the basic features. Cost also depends upon the location of the company and no. of platforms. If the application works on various platforms, the cost will be increased. This way, you can make an estimate of the cost of an application.
How To Shine Among Your Competitors?
It is not difficult to make an application which makes you stand ahead of competitors. You just need some unique features in the application and right market strategies. There are some of the ideas mentioned below:
No Minimum Order: Most of the restaurants have some minimum order value which bounds a customer to order for a particular amount. This can be the right strategy to make profits for running businesses, but when a business is in its initial stages, it should not implement these kinds of strategies.
Deliver On Time: Delivery of food should be on time which helps a restaurant to gain customer’s trust and engage them for a long time. Adopt this strategy and shine among your competitors.
Follow Uber-Eats: You can follow the concept of Uber eats and add the same features with some unique additions. As we see that Uber-Eats is earning higher profits since it came in the market, initially, you can face some market issues, but gradually your business will grow if you keep patience.
Some Challenges That You May Face
Targeting Right Audience: The very first challenge that you may face is how to target the right audience and at which location. To overcome this challenge, you need to study the market properly and analyse that at which location, customers are preferring online dishes.
Developing A Perfect App: This can also be a big challenge if you are starting this type of business for the first time and you don’t know about the app development companies prevailing in the market and what exactly to be added in an application.
Expanding User Base: Entrepreneurs face a challenge of how to expand their business idea among new people. They should start with a smaller area and then expand the area gradually. This helps in reaching more people slowly.
These challenges have to be overcome by the entrepreneur in order to succeed in this ever-changing world. As we know that the people who work in the on-demand businesses are freelancers, you have to balance full-time workers with freelancers to give your work more flexibility. After having a detailed knowledge of how to start a food delivery service business, you are ready to hit the market with your app and proper strategies.
Conclusion
All in all, on-demand food delivery business is increasing its revenue every month and if you also want to invest in this industry, it would be the best option because people are preferring online orders more instead of cooking themselves. You should target on building a fully-customized and feature-enriched application.
